Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program

ABSTRACT

There is provided an information processing apparatus including a text extraction unit that extracts selection candidate text from a text string displayed on a display screen, and a selection area placement unit that places selectable areas for the selection candidate text on the display screen in a manner that the selectable areas differ from a display area of the selection candidate text.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/228,718, filed Mar. 28, 2014, which claims benefit ofJapanese Priority Patent Application No. JP 2013-079429 filed Apr. 5,2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus,an information processing method, and a program.

A variety of information processing apparatus including touch panels,such as smartphones, have been developed these days. Generally, a touchpanel integrally includes a display device for displaying a displayscreen and an input device for user input. The touch panel also has afunction of detecting a location of a user's touch with his/her finger,a specially provided pen, or the like. The user can give a processinginstruction to the information processing apparatus by directly touchingthe display screen displayed on the touch panel.

For example, JP 2012-521048T discloses technology that cuts or copies apart of text displayed on a touchscreen display with an insertion marker510 that moves according to a finger detection position. Also, JP2005-182487A discloses technology that, when a user taps the position ofa key on a virtual keyboard 20 displayed on a touch panel 10, displayson the touch panel 10 an enlarged key 18 that indicates the keycorresponding to the tapped position.

SUMMARY

However, with the above technology, it is difficult for a user to selecttext displayed on a display screen. For example, with the abovetechnology, in the case of selecting a position of text by tapping atouch panel, the text to be selected is obscured in the user's field ofview by the user's finger or nail, making it difficult to accuratelyselect the position that the user wants to select. Additionally, withthe above technology, it is also difficult to accurately select textthat the user wants to select in the case in which the text displayed onthe display screen has a small display size.

Accordingly, the present disclosure proposes a new and improvedinformation processing apparatus, information processing method, andprogram enabling a user to more easily select text displayed on adisplay screen.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is providedan information processing apparatus including a text extraction unitthat extracts selection candidate text from a text string displayed on adisplay screen, and a selection area placement unit that placesselectable areas for the selection candidate text on the display screenin a manner that the selectable areas differ from a display area of theselection candidate text.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is providedan information processing method including extracting selectioncandidate text from a text string displayed on a display screen, andplacing selectable areas for the selection candidate text on the displayscreen in a manner that the selectable areas differ from a display areaof the selection candidate text.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provideda program causing a computer to function as a text extraction unit thatextracts selection candidate text from a text string displayed on adisplay screen, and a selection area placement unit that placesselectable areas for the selection candidate text on the display screenin a manner that the selectable areas differ from a display area of theselection candidate text.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure asdescribed above, a user is able to more easily select text displayed ona display screen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exterior illustration of a mobile device 10 according to afirst embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating exemplary operation of themobile device 10 according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a hardware configurationof the mobile device 10 according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a function block diagram illustrating a configuration of themobile device 10 according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary placement ofselectable areas on a display screen according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary placement ofselectable areas on a display screen according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary placement ofselectable areas on a display screen according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary placement ofselectable areas on a display screen according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary operation ofremoving a selection area display image displayed on a display screenaccording to the same embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating action according to the sameembodiment;

FIG. 11 is a function block diagram illustrating a configuration of themobile device 10 according to a second embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary placement oftext row selection areas on a display screen according to the sameembodiment;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary placement ofselectable areas on a display screen according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary operation ofremoving a selection area display image displayed on a display screenaccording to the same embodiment;

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary operation ofremoving a selection area display image displayed on a display screenaccording to the same embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating action according to the sameembodiment;

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary display of adisplay screen according to an exemplary modification of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary display of adisplay screen according to the same exemplary modification;

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary display of adisplay screen according to the same exemplary modification; and

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary display of adisplay screen according to the same exemplary modification;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S)

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail and with reference to the attached drawings. Thepresent disclosure may be carried out in various embodiments, examplesof which are described in detail from sections (1. Detailed descriptionof first embodiment) to (2. Detailed description of second embodiment).In addition, the detailed description of the embodiments in this sectionwill be given in the order indicated below.

1. Detailed description of first embodiment

-   -   1-1. Basic configuration    -   1-2. Configuration    -   1-3. Action    -   1-4. Advantageous effects

2. Detailed description of second embodiment

-   -   2-1. Basic configuration    -   2-2. Configuration    -   2-3. Action    -   2-4. Advantageous effects

3. Exemplary modifications

Note that, in this specification and the appended drawings, structuralelements that have substantially the same function and structure aredenoted with the same reference numerals, and repeated explanation ofthese structural elements is omitted.

In addition, in this specification and the appended drawings, aplurality of structural elements that have substantially the samefunction and structure might be denoted with the same reference numeralssuffixed with different letters or numbers to be discriminated from eachother as necessary, like a mobile device 10 a and a mobile device 10 b.However, when not having to be particularly discriminated from eachother, the plurality of structural elements that have substantially thesame function and structure are only denoted with the same referencenumerals. For example, when not having to be particularly discriminatedfrom each other, the mobile device 10 a and the mobile device 10 b aresimply referred to as the mobile device 10.

1. Detailed Description of First Embodiment 1-1. Basic Configuration

First, a basic configuration of a mobile device 10 (informationprocessing apparatus) according to the first embodiment will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the mobiledevice 10 is a mobile information processing client that includes adisplay. The mobile device 10 may be a mobile phone such as asmartphone, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a digitalcamera, a wristwatch, or game console, for example.

The mobile device 10 is capable of displaying a display screen 20 thatincludes text, as illustrated in FIG. 2, for example. The mobile device10 also includes a touch panel device, and is capable of detecting aposition on the display screen 20 that a user has tapped with a finger.

Additionally, the mobile device 10 is capable of implementing softwarefor editing text such as notes, for example. Furthermore, the mobiledevice 10 is capable of implementing software for displaying a softwarekeyboard on the display screen 20, and/or software for recognizingcharacters written by hand on the display screen 20. For example, theuser may freely input and edit text strings by using a software keyboarddisplayed on the display screen 20 or by handwriting input with respectto a handwriting input screen.

The mobile device 10 may also include a function of recognizing speechpicked up by a microphone or the like provided in the mobile device 10,for example. Furthermore, the mobile device 10 is capable of convertingrecognized speech into a text string, and displaying the converted textstring on the display screen 20. Note that the mobile device 10 may alsoconduct speech recognition on the basis of electronic data in whichspeech is recorded, and subsequently convert the recognized speech intoa text string.

Note that in this specification, an example of the mobile device 10being used in a situation in which the user corrects an input textstring will be mainly described as an example hereinafter. However, themobile device 10 is not limited to such an example, and is similarlyusable in a situation in which the user selects and copies partial textfrom a text string displayed on the display screen 20, such as a webpage displayed by a web browser, for example.

—Hardware Configuration—

Note that the mobile device 10 has a hardware configuration asillustrated in FIG. 3, for example. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the mobiledevice 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 150, ROM (Read OnlyMemory) 152, RAM (Random Access Memory) 154, an internal bus 156, aninterface 158, an input device 160, an output device 162, a storagedevice 164, and a communication device 166.

The CPU 150 is configured as an example of a control unit 100 to bedescribed later. The CPU 150 functions as an arithmetic processing unitand a controller device, and controls overall operations in the mobiledevice 10 according to various programs. The CPU 150 may be amicroprocessor.

The ROM 152 stores therein programs and operational parameters which areused by the CPU 150. The RAM 154 temporarily stores therein the programsused and executed by the CPU 150, parameters appropriately varying inexecuting the programs, and the like. The CPU 150, the ROM 152, and theRAM 154 are connected to each other via the internal bus 156 configuredof a CPU bus or the like.

The interface 158 connects the input device 160, the output device 162,the storage device 164, and the communication device 166 with theinternal bus 156. For example, the input device 160 exchanges data withthe CPU 150 and the like through the interface 158 and the internal bus156.

The input device 160 includes: an input mechanism used by the user forimputing information, such as a touch panel, a button, a microphone, ora switch; an input control circuit configured to generate an inputsignal based on user input and to output the signal to the CPU 150; andthe like. By manipulating the input device 160, the user of the mobiledevice 10 can input various data into the information processingapparatus 10 and instruct the mobile device 10 to perform a processingoperation.

The output device 162 includes a display device such as a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD: Liquid Crystal Display) device, an OLED (Organic LightEmitting Diode) device, or a lamp. Further, the output device 162includes a sound output device such as a speaker. For example, thedisplay device displays a captured image, a generated image, and thelike. In contrast, the sound output device outputs sound converted fromsound data or the like.

The storage device 164 is a device for data storage, such as a harddisk. The storage device 164 may include a storage medium, a recordingdevice which records data in a storage medium, a reader device whichreads data from a storage medium, a deletion device which deletes datarecorded in a storage medium, and the like. The storage device 164stores therein the programs executed by the CPU 150 and various data.

The communication device 166 is a communication interface configured ofa communication device or the like for connecting to a communicationnetwork such as a public network or the Internet. The communicationdevice 166 may also be a communication device supporting a wireless LAN(Local Area Network), a communication device supporting LTE (Long TermEvolution), or a wired communication device configured to performcommunication in a wired manner

1-2. Configuration

Hereinafter, a basic configuration of a mobile device 10 according tothe first embodiment will be described. Subsequently, a configurationaccording to the first embodiment will be described in detail. FIG. 4 isa function block diagram illustrating a configuration of the mobiledevice 10 according to the first embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 4, amobile device 10 according to the first embodiment includes a controlunit 100, a display unit 120, and an operating unit 122. Additionally,the control unit 100 includes a text extraction unit 102, a selectionarea placement unit 104, an operation recognition unit 106, and adisplay control unit 108.

The control unit 100 includes a functional of generally controlling theaction of the mobile device 10 by using hardware such as the CPU 150 andRAM 154 built into the mobile device 10. For example, the control unit100 controls the action of the display unit 120 and the operating unit122.

The text extraction unit 102 extracts selection candidate text from atext string displayed on the display screen 20. More specifically, thetext extraction unit 102 extracts selection candidate text on the basisof the position where the user performed a touch operation on thedisplay screen 20. For example, the text extraction unit 102 may extractfirst text closest to the position tapped by the user on the displayscreen 20, and one or more second text neighboring the first text, asrespective selection candidate text. Herein, text may a single word, ora compound containing two or more words. Also, in the case in which thetext string is in a language such as Japanese or Chinese, for example,text may be a morpheme obtained after morphological analysis isconducted by the text extraction unit 102, or a character stringcontaining two or more morphemes.

In the example illustrated in the diagram on the right side of FIG. 2,for example, in the case in which the user taps near the word “it” fromthe text string displayed on the display screen 20, the text extractionunit 102 may extract “it” and surrounding words neighboring “it” asselection candidate text.

The text extraction unit 102 may also vary the selection candidate textto extract on the basis of whether the left hand or the right handtapped the display screen 20. For example, in the case in which theoperating unit 122 discussed later detects whether a tap was performedby the left hand or the right hand on the basis of information such as adetection result of a finger pressure shape on the display screen 20,the text extraction unit 102 may treat the tapped position on thedisplay screen 20 as a reference, and extract just the text on theopposite side of the tapping hand, or just the text on the same side ofthe tapping hand.

The selection area placement unit 104 places selectable areas for theselection candidate text extracted by the text extraction unit 102 onthe display screen 20, so as to differ from the selection candidate textdisplay area. More specifically, the selection area placement unit 104places selectable areas for the selection candidate text on the displayscreen 20 that are more enlarged than the selection candidate textdisplay area.

FIGS. 5 to 8 are explanatory diagrams illustrating an exemplary displayin which the display control unit 108 discussed later superimposes ontothe display screen 20 a selection area display image, which is an imageindicating placed selectable areas. Note that FIGS. 5 to 8 illustrate anexample for the case in which the text extraction unit 102 extracts itand words near “it” as selection candidate text, and the selection areaplacement unit 104 places a selectable area for each extracted word.

Note that in FIGS. 5 to 8, the selection area display image issimplified and expressed as non-transparent. However, in actual practicethe display control unit 108 may display the selection area displayimage in a semi-transparent color. For this reason, the user is able tosee through to the text string positioned in the range of the selectionarea display image on the display screen 20. Also, although FIG. 5illustrates an example of placing selectable areas for 9 words, forexample, the configuration is not limited to such an example, and it isalso possible to place selectable areas for an arbitrary number ofwords, such as 5 or 15, for example.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 8, the selection area placement unit 104may place selectable areas for selection candidate text on the displayscreen 20 that are more enlarged than the display size of the textdisplayed on the display screen 20.

Also, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the selection area placement unit 104may also place selectable areas for the selection candidate text belowthe display position of the selection candidate text. Also, asillustrated in FIG. 6, the selection area placement unit 104 may alsoplace selectable areas for the selection candidate text above thedisplay position of the selection candidate text. A potentialadvantageous effect of these exemplary placements is that, since theimage indicating the selectable areas for the selection candidate textis displayed offset by a fixed degree from the display position of theselection candidate text on the display screen 20, visibility is ensuredfor the selection candidate text and nearby text being displayed on thedisplay screen 20.

In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the selection area placement unit104 may also place selectable areas for the selection candidate text onthe display screen 20 centered on the Y coordinate value, or in otherwords the coordinate value in the vertical direction of the displayscreen 20, of the position tapped by the user. A potential advantageouseffect of this exemplary placement is that, since the image indicatingthe selectable areas for the selection candidate text is displayed notfar distant from the display position of the selection candidate text,the user is able to select arbitrary selection candidate text withoutmoving his or her finger very far from the tapped position, and thusmake a selection more easily.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example placement inwhich the selection area placement unit 104 arranges selectable areasfor the selection candidate text on the basis of whether the left handor the right hand tapped the display screen 20. For example, in the casein which the user's left hand taps the display screen 20, the selectionarea placement unit 104 may place selectable areas for the selectioncandidate text like the exemplary placement illustrated in FIG. 8.Typically, when a user attempts to tap with the left hand, for example,there is a possibility of unintentionally tapping a position slightly tothe left of the user's intended position. For this reason, according tothis exemplary placement, the tapped position is treated as a reference,and selectable areas for text positioned on the opposite side of thetapping hand (that is, the right side) are placed. This has theadvantage of reducing mistaken selections by the user.

However, the configuration is not limited to the above example, and theselection area placement unit 104 may place selectable areas for theselection candidate text like the exemplary placement illustrated inFIG. 8 in the case in which the user's right hand taps the displayscreen 20. According to this exemplary modification, the tapped positionis treated as a reference, and selectable areas for text positioned onthe side of the tapping hand (that is, the right hand) are placed. Thishas the advantage of enabling the user to easily select selectioncandidate text with the right hand in the case in which the user isholding and operating the mobile device 10 one-handed with the righthand, for example. One reason for the above is because human fingershave a tendency to readily bend in the direction of the palm.

In addition, the selection area placement unit 104 may also placeselectable areas for the individual selection candidate text in anarrangement according to the arrangement of the selection candidate textdisplayed on the display screen 20. For example, as “ever” is placed tothe right of “it” in the examples illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 8, theselection area placement unit 104 may place selectable areas for theindividual selection candidate text in the same arrangement as the textstring displayed on the display screen 20.

In addition, the selection area placement unit 104 may also placeselectable areas for the selection candidate text in an arc on the basisof the position at which a tap operation was performed on the displayscreen 20. For example, the selection area placement unit 104 may placeselectable areas for the selection candidate text in an arc orelliptical circumference centered near a joint of the hand that firsttapped the display screen 20 (such as the thumb, for example), or in anarc or elliptical circumference in the opposite direction. According tothis exemplary placement, the user is able to select arbitrary selectioncandidate text by simply moving a finger in an arc from the tappedposition, without moving the arm. For this reason, the user may be ableto touch selection candidate text easily, and experience less physicalfatigue.

In addition, the selection area placement unit 104 may also place aselectable area for the text closest to the tapped position on thedisplay screen 20 that is larger than the selectable areas for othertext. For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 5, in the case inwhich the user taps near the word “it”, the selection area placementunit 104 may place a selectable area 200 a for the word “it” that islarger than the selectable areas for other words, such as the selectablearea 202 a for the word “daily”, for example. Generally, it isanticipated that the user will want to select the word closest to thetapped position. For this reason, by placing a selectable area for theword closest to the tapped position that is larger than the selectableareas for other words, the user is able to more easily select the wordshe or she wants to select.

In addition, the selection area placement unit 104 may also place aselectable area for certain text that is larger than the selectableareas for other text, on the basis of past usage results. For example,in the exemplary placement illustrated in FIG. 5, in the case in which auser has selected the upper-left selectable area 202 a among the nineselectable areas more times than the other selectable areas, theselection area placement unit 104 may place an upper-left selectablearea 202 a that is larger than the other selectable areas. Thisexemplary placement has an advantage in that, since a selectable areaexisting at a position with a higher probability of being tapped by auser is placed with a larger size, a user who tends to tap approximatelythe same position every time is able to make a selection more easily.

In addition, in the case in which the user moves a finger over thedisplay screen 20 with the finger still touching the display screen 20,the selection area placement unit 104 may move the selectable areas forthe selection candidate text according to the change in finger position.For example, in the case in which the user moves a finger upward overthe display screen 20 with the finger still touching the display screen20, the selection area placement unit 104 may move the selectable areasfor the selection candidate text upward on the display screen 20according to the finger movement. According to this exemplarymodification, since the selectable areas move, the position of theselection area display image superimposed by the display control unit108 discussed later also moves, enabling a clearer display of the textstring positioned at the place where the selection area display imagewas being displayed. For this reason, the user is able to easily andmore clearly check the original text string by simply moving his or herfinger over the display screen 20.

The operation recognition unit 106 recognizes user touch operations onthe display screen 20. For example, in the case in which the user tapsthe display screen 20, the operation recognition unit 106 may recognizethat the user has selected selection candidate text that corresponds tothe selectable area existing at the tapped position. In the exampleillustrated in FIG. 5, in the case in which the user taps inside theselectable area 200 a for the word “it”, for example, the operationrecognition unit 106 may recognize that the user has selected the word“it”.

Also, as illustrated in FIG. 9, in the case in which the user taps anarea 204 other than the selectable areas for selection candidate text onthe display screen 20, the operation recognition unit 106 may recognizethat the user has not selected any selection candidate text.Subsequently, in the case in which the operation recognition unit 106recognizes that the user has not selected any selection candidate text,the selection area placement unit 104 may remove the placed selectableareas, as illustrated by the drawing on the right in FIG. 9.

Note that in the case in which the user newly taps the display screen 20after removing the selectable areas for the selection candidate text,the text extraction unit 102 may extract selection candidate text on thebasis of the newly tapped position from the displayed text string.Subsequently, the selection area placement unit 104 may place selectableareas for the extracted selection candidate text on the display screen20.

The display control unit 108 superimposes a selection area display imageindicating selectable areas for selection candidate text onto thedisplay screen 20. For example, the display control unit 108 may alsodisplay the selection area display image in the same area as theselectable areas for the selection candidate text. The selection areadisplay image may also include the selection candidate text, asillustrated in FIG. 5, for example. A potential advantageous effect isthat the user is able to clear recognize the selectable areacorresponding to each selection candidate text. Also, since theselection area display image is basically superimposed onto the displayscreen 20 in a semi-transparent color, the user is able to select any ofthe selection candidate text while checking the text string itself beingdisplayed on the display screen 20.

The display control unit 108 may also differentiate the colors of all orpart of the selection area display image, as illustrated by the shadingin FIGS. 5 to 8, for example. Alternatively, the display control unit108 may display all of the selection area display image in the samecolor.

The display unit 120 displays the display screen 20 according toinstructions from the display control unit 108.

The operating unit 122 receives various operations from the user. Forexample, the operating unit 122 receives text input operations via asoftware keyboard displayed on the display screen 20, text inputoperations via speech, or user touch operations on the display screen20.

Note that, according to the first embodiment, it is also possible toprovide a computer program causing hardware such as the CPU 150, ROM152, and RAM 154 built into the mobile device 10 to exhibit the samefunctionality as the respective components of above mobile device 10.Also, a storage medium having such a computer program stored therein isalso provided.

However, a configuration according to the first embodiment is notlimited to the foregoing configuration. For example, one or both of thedisplay unit 120 and the operating unit 122 may also be provided inanother device, without being included in the mobile device 10.

1-3. Action

The above thus describes a configuration according to the firstembodiment. Next, action according to the first embodiment will bedescribed. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary actionaccording to the first embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, first, the control unit 100 activates adesignated application for inputting text, as a result of a useroperation on the operating unit 122 (S101). Note that the applicationmay be stored in the mobile device 10, or stored in another device. Inthe case of storing the application in another device, the mobile device10 may instruct that device to activate the application via wirelesscommunication, for example.

Subsequently, the control unit 100 determines whether or not the userhas performed a close operation to close the application (S102). In thecase in which the user has performed a close operation (S102: Yes), thecontrol unit 100 closes the application.

On the other hand, in the case in which the user has not performed aclose operation (S102: No), the operating unit 122 receives input of atext string by the user using a software keyboard, speech, or the like,for example. Subsequently, the display control unit 108 causes thedisplay screen 20 to display the input text string (S103).

Subsequently, the control unit 100 determines whether or not the userhas tapped the display area of the text string on the display screen 20(S104). In the case in which the user has not performed a tap (S104:No), the control unit 100 repeats the action of S102 again.

On the other hand, in the case in which the user has performed a tap(S104: Yes), first, the text extraction unit 102 extracts selectioncandidate text on the basis of the position on the display screen 20 atwhich the user performed the tap. The selection area placement unit 104then places selectable areas for the selection candidate text on thedisplay screen 20 that are more enlarged than the selection candidatetext display area. The display control unit 108 then superimposes aselection area display image indicating selectable areas for selectioncandidate text onto the display screen 20.

Subsequently, the operation recognition unit 106 recognizes whether ornot the user has selected one of the selectable areas placed on thedisplay screen 20 (S105). In the case of recognizing that the user hasnot selected any of the selectable areas (S105: No), the control unit100 repeats the action of S102 again.

On the other hand, in the case of recognizing that the user has selectedone of the selectable areas (S105: Yes), the operation recognition unit106 recognizes that the user has selected the selection candidate textcorresponding to the selected selectable area. The operating unit 122then receives the user's correction operation on the selected text(S106).

For example, first, the control unit 100 specifies correction candidatesfor the selected text according to a designated input prediction engine.Next, the display control unit 108 causes the display screen 20 todisplay a pull-down menu for listing the correction candidate text.Subsequently, the operating unit 122 receives the user's selectionoperation on the pull-down menu. A potential advantageous effect of thisexemplary operation is that, since the user is able to correct text asdesired by simply tapping and selecting correction candidate textdisplayed in a pull-down menu, for example, the user is able to correcttext more quickly.

Alternatively, the display control unit 108 may cause the display screen20 to display a software keyboard, and then the operating unit 122 mayreceive input of corrected text by the user using the software keyboard.

After that, the control unit 100 repeats the action of S102 again.

1-4. Advantageous Effects

As described above with reference to FIGS. 4 and 10, for example, amobile device 10 according to the first embodiment extracts selectioncandidate text from a text string displayed on a display screen 20, andthen places selectable areas for the selection candidate text on thedisplay screen 20 that are more enlarged than the selection candidatetext display area. For this reason, since the mobile device 10 placesselectable areas for text that the user desires to select that arelarger than the display size of the text string, the user is able tomore easily select selection candidate text.

For example, since the user is able to select text by tapping anyposition inside a selectable area corresponding to the desired text toselect, it is possible to prevent the text to be selected from becomingobscured in the user's field of view by the user's finger or nail. Also,since the mobile device 10 places larger selectable areas for text, theuser is able to more easily select the text he or she wants to select,even in the case in which the text displayed on the display screen has asmall display size.

The mobile device 10 according to the first embodiment is also highlyuser-friendly, since the user does not have to perform an operation ofselecting the position of a word by using a finger to finely adjust thepositions of anchors displayed on the display screen like those used inthe technology of the related art.

2. Detailed Description of Second Embodiment

The foregoing thus describes the first embodiment. As discussed above,in the first embodiment, the mobile device 10 places selectable areasfor the selection candidate text on the display screen 20 that are moreenlarged than the selection candidate text display area. As describednext, according to the second embodiment, the mobile device 10 may alsoplace selectable areas for selection candidate text along one of theedges of the display screen 20.

2-1. Basic Configuration

The basic configuration of a mobile device 10 according to the secondembodiment is similar to the first embodiment. Consequently, descriptionthereof is omitted herein.

2-2. Configuration

Next, a configuration of a mobile device 20 according to the secondembodiment will be described. FIG. 11 is a function block diagramillustrating a configuration of the mobile device 10 according to thesecond embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 11, compared to the firstembodiment, a mobile device 10 according to the second embodiment newlyincludes a text row extraction unit 110 and a text row selection areaplacement unit 112.

The text row extraction unit 110 extracts one or more text rows on thebasis of the position where the user performed a touch operation on adisplay screen 30. More specifically, the text row extraction unit 110may extract a first text row, which is the text row closest to theposition tapped by the user, and one or more second text rows near thefirst text row.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 12, in the case in which the usertaps near the word “it” from the text string displayed on the displayscreen 30, the text row extraction unit 110 may extract a text row 300 athat includes “it”, as well as text rows surrounding the text row 300 a,such as a text row 300 b, for example.

The text extraction unit 102 according to the second embodiment mayextract individual text included in a text row extracted by the text rowextraction unit 110 as selection candidate text. For example, in theexample illustrated in FIG. 12, in the case in which the text rowextraction unit 110 extracts the text row 300 a that includes “it”, thetext extraction unit 102 may also extract individual words included inthe text row 300 a such as the word 310 a, for example, as selectioncandidate text, as illustrated in FIG. 13.

The text row selection area placement unit 112 places text row selectionareas that respectively correspond to text rows extracted by the textrow extraction unit 110 on the display screen 30. More specifically, thetext row selection area placement unit 112 may place a text rowselection area for the first text row that is larger than the text rowselection areas for one or more second text rows positioned near thefirst text row.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 12, in the case in which the textrow extraction unit 110 extracts the text row 300 a and text rowssurrounding the text row 300 a, the text row selection area placementunit 112 may place a text row selection area 302 a corresponding to thetext row 300 a that is larger than text row selection areascorresponding to the text rows surrounding the text row 300 a, such asthe text row selection area 302 b, for example. Generally, it isanticipated that the user will want to select the text row closest tothe tapped position. For this reason, by placing a text row selectionarea for the text row closest to the tapped position that is larger thanthe text row selection areas for other text rows, there is an advantagein that the user is able to more easily select the text row he or shewants to select.

Note that although FIG. 12 illustrates an example of placing text rowselection areas for four rows, the configuration is not limited thereto.For example, the text row selection area placement unit 112 may alsoincrease or decrease the number of rows of text row selection areas toplace, according to the size of the user's finger or the size of theline spacing of the text string being displayed on the display screen30.

In addition, the text row selection area placement unit 112 may alsoplace a text row selection area for certain text that is larger than thetext row selection areas for other text, on the basis of past usageresults. More specifically, the text row selection area placement unit112 may compute a range of Y coordinate values, or in other words arange of positions in the vertical direction of the display screen 30,that the user has tapped more times from among the placed text rowselection areas, and then place a text row selection area positioned inthe computed range of coordinate values that is larger than other textrow selection areas. This exemplary placement has an advantage in that,since a text row selection area existing at a position with a higherprobability of being tapped by a user is placed with a larger size, auser who tends to tap approximately the same position every time is ableto make a selection more easily.

In addition, the text row selection area placement unit 112 may placetext row selection areas along any one edge of the display screen 30.For example, as illustrated in FIG. 12, the text row selection areaplacement unit 112 may place text row selection areas 302 along theright edge of the display screen 30. Alternatively, the text rowselection area placement unit 112 may place text row selection areasalong any of the left edge, the top edge, and the bottom edge. Accordingto this exemplary placement, since text row selection areas are placedalong one of the edges of the display screen 30, when the user selects atext row, the user is able to select the text row he or she wants toselect while keeping the text row being displayed on the display screen30 minimally obscured by the user's finger. For this reason, thevisibility of the text string being displayed is improved.

Additionally, in the case in which the operating unit 122 detectswhether a tap was performed by the user's left hand or the right hand onthe basis of information such as a detection result of a finger pressureshape on the display screen 30, for example, the text row selection areaplacement unit 112 may place text row selection areas along the edge onthe side of the tapping hand. According to this exemplary placement,since the text row selection areas are placed along the right edge ofthe display screen 30 in the case in which the user is operating themobile device 10 one-handed with the right hand, for example, the useris able to easily select the text row selection area he or she wants toselect with the right hand.

The selection area placement unit 104 according to the second embodimentmay place, on the display screen 30, selectable areas for each textincluded in a text row corresponding to a text row selection area placedby the text row selection area placement unit 112. More specifically,the selection area placement unit 104 may place, on the display screen30, selectable areas for individual text included in a text rowcorresponding to a text row selection area selected by the user fromamong the placed text row selection areas. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 12, in the case in which the user selects the text row selectionarea 302 a from among the placed text row selection areas, the selectionarea placement unit 104 may place selectable areas 312 for theindividual text included in the text row corresponding to the text rowselection area 302 a on the display screen 30 as selectable areas, asillustrated in FIG. 13.

In addition, the selection area placement unit 104 may place aselectable area corresponding to first text closest to the positiontapped first by the user on the text row corresponding to a text rowselection area selected by the user, such that the selectable area islarger than selectable areas corresponding to second text other than thefirst text. For example, in the case in which the word “it” is the wordclosest to the X coordinate value, or in other words the position in thehorizontal direction of the display screen 30, of a position tappedfirst by the user, the selection area placement unit 104 may place aselectable area 312 a corresponding to the word “it” that is larger thanthe selectable areas corresponding to other words, such as theselectable area 312 b, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 13.Generally, it is anticipated that the user will want to select the wordclosest to the tapped position. For this reason, according to thisexemplary placement, the user is able to more easily select the word heor she wants to select from among placed selectable areas.

The operation recognition unit 106 according to the second embodimentmay recognize that the user has selected a text row corresponding to atext row selection area existing at a position tapped on the displayscreen 30. For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 12, in thecase in which the user taps inside the text row selection area 302 a,the operation recognition unit 106 may recognize that the user hasselected the text row 300 a.

Also, the operation recognition unit 106 may recognize that the user hasselected a text row corresponding to a selectable area existing at aposition tapped on the display screen 30. For example, in the exampleillustrated in FIG. 13, in the case in which the user taps inside theselectable area 312 a for text, the operation recognition unit 106 mayrecognize that the user has selected the text 310 a corresponding to theselectable area 312 a, that is, the word “it”.

Also, as illustrated in FIG. 14, in the case in which the user taps adisplay area 320 other than the selection candidate text row displayareas 300 and the text row selection areas 302 on the display screen 30,the operation recognition unit 106 may recognize that the user has notselected any selection candidate text row. Subsequently, in the case inwhich the operation recognition unit 106 recognizes that the user hasnot selected any selection candidate text row, the text row selectionarea placement unit 112 may remove the placed text row selection areas302. Note that in the case in which the user newly taps the displayscreen 30 after removing the text row selection areas 302, the text rowextraction unit 110 may extract one or more text rows on the basis ofthe newly tapped position. Subsequently, the text row selection areaplacement unit 112 may place text row selection areas that respectivelycorrespond to the extracted text rows on the display screen 30.

Also, as illustrated in FIG. 15, in the case in which the user taps adisplay area 330 other than the selection candidate text display areas310 and the selectable areas 312 for text on the display screen 30, theoperation recognition unit 106 may recognize that the user has notselected any selection candidate text row. Subsequently, in the case inwhich the operation recognition unit 106 recognizes that the user hasnot selected any text, the selection area placement unit 104 may removethe placed selectable areas 312.

The display control unit 108 according to the second embodiment maysuperimpose a text row selection area display image indicating placedtext row selection areas onto the display screen 30, as illustrated inFIG. 12, for example. For example, the display control unit 108 may alsodifferentiate the colors of all or part of the text row selection areadisplay image for display on the display screen 30, as illustrated bythe shading in FIG. 12. A potential advantageous effect is that the userbecomes able to clearly and intuitively recognize the text row selectionareas corresponding to extracted text rows.

In addition, the display control unit 108 may also display the text rowselection area display image on the display screen 30 in asemi-transparent color. An advantageous effect is that, even in the casein which the text string is being displayed behind the text rowselection area display image, the user is able to select the text row heor she wants to select while checking the text string being displayedunderneath.

In addition, the display control unit 108 may highlight textcorresponding to a text row selection area with a semi-transparentcolor, for example, like the text row 300 a and the text row 300 b inFIG. 12, for example.

Note that the function of each structural element of a mobile device 10according to the second embodiment is generally similar to the firstembodiment, except as described above.

2-3. Action

The above thus describes a configuration according to the secondembodiment. Next, action according to the second embodiment will bedescribed. FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating action according to thesecond embodiment. Note that the action from S201 to S203 is similar tothe action from S101 to S103 according to the first embodiment.

After S203, the control unit 100 determines whether or not the user hastapped a displayed text area on the display screen 30 (S204). In thecase in which the user has not performed a tap (S204: No), the controlunit 100 repeats the action of S202 again.

On the other hand, in the case in which the user has performed a tap(S204: Yes), first, the text row extraction unit 110 extracts text rowson the basis of the position on the display screen 30 at which the userperformed the tap. Subsequently, the text row selection area placementunit 112 places text row selection areas that respectively correspond tothe extracted text rows along one of the edges of the display screen 30.The display control unit 108 then superimposes a text row selection areadisplay image indicating text row selection areas on the display screen30.

Subsequently, the operation recognition unit 106 recognizes whether ornot the user has selected one of the text row selection areas placed onthe display screen 30 (S205). In the case of recognizing that the userhas not selected any of the text row selection areas (S205: No), thecontrol unit 100 repeats the action of S202 again.

On the other hand, in the case of recognizing that the user has selectedone of the text row selection areas (S205: Yes), first, the textextraction unit 102 extracts individual text included in the text rowcorresponding to the text row selection area selected by the user asselection candidate text. Subsequently, the selection area placementunit 104 places a selectable area for each extracted selection candidatetext on the display screen 30. The display control unit 108 thensuperimposes a selection area display image indicating selectable areasfor selection candidate text onto the display screen 30.

Note that action in S206 and thereafter is generally similar to theaction from S105 to S106 according to the first embodiment.Consequently, description thereof is omitted herein.

2-4. Advantageous Effects

As described above with reference to FIGS. 11 and 16, for example, amobile device 10 according to the second embodiment extracts text rowsfrom a text string displayed on a display screen 30, and then placestext row selection areas that respectively correspond to the extractedtext rows along one of the edges of the display screen 30. For thisreason, when the user selects a text row, the user is able to easilyselect the text row he or she wants to select, without the text stringbeing displayed on the display screen 30 becoming obscured by the user'sfinger or nail.

In addition, the mobile device 10 extracts individual text included thetext row corresponding to the text row selection area selected by theuser as selection candidate text, and places selectable areas for theextracted selection candidate text on the display screen 30. For thisreason, by simply tapping a selectable area for selection candidate textplaced on the display screen 30, the user is able to easily select thetext he or she wants to select from a text row that the user hasselected.

3. Exemplary Modifications

Note that although the foregoing describes preferred embodiments of thepresent disclosure in detail and with reference to the attacheddrawings, the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. It isclear to persons ordinarily skilled in the technical field to which thepresent disclosure belongs that various modifications or alterations mayoccur insofar as they are within the scope of the technical ideas statedin the claims, and it is to be understood that such modifications oralterations obviously belong to the technical scope of the presentdisclosure.

3-1. Exemplary Modification 1

For example, the mobile device 10 may also extract text having a highprobability of input error from an input text string according to adesignated input prediction engine, and then emphasize the extractedtext on a display screen 40. More specifically, in the case in which atext string is input via speech recognition, for example, the mobiledevice 10 may extract text having a high probability of input errorevery time the speech recognition process is performed, such as inphrase units, for example. Meanwhile, in the case in which the userinputs text directly using a software keyboard, for example, the mobiledevice 10 may extract text having a high probability of input error whenthe input of a phrase ends.

Note that the designated input prediction engine may determine therelevance of target text on the basis of text positioned before thetarget text, for example, and then compute a relevancy score. At thispoint, the text may be words, compounds, morphemes analyzed bymorphological analysis, or the like. In addition, the input predictionengine may be stored in the mobile device 10, or stored in anotherdevice able to communicate with the mobile device 10.

FIGS. 17 to 20 are explanatory diagrams respectively illustratingexemplary displays of a display screen 40 according to this exemplarymodification. As illustrated in FIG. 17, the mobile device 10 may alsocause text 400 a with a low score computed by the input predictionengine, or in other words text having a high probability of input error,to be displayed on the display screen 40 in a larger font size.According to this exemplary display, since text with a low score isdisplayed larger than other text, the user is able to easily notice textwith a low score, and easily select such text by tapping.

Also, as illustrated in FIG. 18, the mobile device 10 may also displayan input text string on the display screen 40 with a line break insertedat the end of text 400 b with a low score. Also, as illustrated in FIG.19, the mobile device 10 may also display an input text string on thedisplay screen 40 with line breaks inserted before and after a text rowthat includes text 400 c with a low score. According to these exemplarydisplays, since whitespace is displayed around text with a low score,there is an advantage in that the user is able to easily notice textwith a low score, and in addition, it is easy to prevent the user fromaccidently selecting other text with a touch operation.

Also, as illustrated in FIG. 20, the mobile device 10 may also thedisplay screen 40 to display a slider 404 d enabling the user to adjustthe number of displayed words per line with a touch operation.Subsequently, the mobile device 10 may display an input text string onthe display screen 40 with a line break inserted before and after text400 d with a low score. According to these exemplary displays,whitespace is displayed around text with a low score on the displayscreen 40, and in addition, the user is able to adjust the number ofdisplayed words per line of an input text string. For this reason, theuser becomes able to select text with a low score even more easily.

3-2. Exemplary Modification 2

The foregoing describes an example in which a mobile device 10 isequipped with the respective structural elements included in the controlunit 100 according to the first embodiment and the second embodiment,such as the text extraction unit 102 and the selection area placementunit 104, for example. However, the present disclosure is not limited tosuch an example. Instead of being provided in the mobile device 10, therespective structural elements included in the above control unit 100may also be provided in a communication device able to communicate withthe mobile device 10, such as a server, for example. Also, a computerprogram for exhibiting the same functionality as the respectivestructural elements included in the above control unit 100 may also bestored in the above communication device rather than being stored in themobile device 10.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

Additionally, the present technology may also be configured as below.

(1) An information processing apparatus including:

a text extraction unit that extracts selection candidate text from atext string displayed on a display screen; and

a selection area placement unit that places selectable areas for theselection candidate text on the display screen in a manner that theselectable areas differ from a display area of the selection candidatetext.

(2) The information processing apparatus according to (1), wherein

the selection area placement unit places the selectable areas for theselection candidate text on the display screen in a manner that theselectable areas are more enlarged than the display area of theselection candidate text.

(3) The information processing apparatus according to (1) or (2),further including:

a display control unit that superimposes a selection area display imageindicating the selectable areas for the selection candidate text on thedisplay screen.

(4) The information processing apparatus according to (3), wherein theselection area display image is an image that includes the selectioncandidate text, and is positioned in a same area as the selectable areasfor the selection candidate text.

(5) The information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to(4), further including:

an operation recognition unit that recognizes a touch operation by auser on the display screen,

wherein the text extraction unit extracts the selection candidate texton a basis of a position at which the touch operation is performed.

(6) The information processing apparatus according to (5), wherein

the text extraction unit extracts first text closest to the position atwhich the touch operation is performed, and one or more second textneighboring the first text, as the selection candidate text.

(7) The information processing apparatus according to (6), wherein

the selection area placement unit places the selectable areas for theindividual selection candidate text in an arrangement according to anarrangement of the selection candidate text displayed on the displayscreen.

(8) The information processing apparatus according to any one of (5) to(7), wherein

the operation recognition unit further recognizes that the user hasselected the selection candidate text corresponding to a selectable areaexisting at the position at which the touch operation is performed onthe display screen.

(9) The information processing apparatus according to any one of (5) to(8), wherein

the selection area placement unit places the selectable areas for theselection candidate text in an arc on a basis of the position at whichthe touch operation is performed on the display screen.

(10) The information processing apparatus according to any one of (5) to(9), wherein

the selection area placement unit places the selectable areas for theselection candidate text along any one edge of the display screen.

(11) The information processing apparatus according to (10), wherein

the text extraction unit extracts one or more text rows as the selectioncandidate text, on a basis of the position at which the touch operationis performed on the display screen,

the selection area placement unit places text row selection areas thateach correspond to the extracted text rows on the display screen as theselectable areas, and

the operation recognition unit further recognizes that the user hasselected a text row selection area at the position at which the touchoperation is performed on the display screen.

(12) The information processing apparatus according to (11), wherein

the text extraction unit extracts a first text row, and one or moresecond text rows near the first text row, the first text row being atext row closest to the position at which the touch operation isperformed.

(13) The information processing apparatus according to (12), wherein

the selection area placement unit places a text row selection area forthe first text row in a manner that the text row selection area islarger than text row selection areas for the second text rows.

(14) The information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to(13), wherein

the text is a word.

(15) The information processing apparatus according to any one of (10)to (13), wherein

the text is a text row including a word.

(16) An information processing method including:

extracting selection candidate text from a text string displayed on adisplay screen; and

placing selectable areas for the selection candidate text on the displayscreen in a manner that the selectable areas differ from a display areaof the selection candidate text.

(17) A program causing a computer to function as:

a text extraction unit that extracts selection candidate text from atext string displayed on a display screen; and

a selection area placement unit that places selectable areas for theselection candidate text on the display screen in a manner that theselectable areas differ from a display area of the selection candidatetext.

1. An information processing terminal comprising; a sensor configured todetect position information related to an operation; and circuitryconfigured to: control a display to display a first area including textand a second area which is located at one edge of the display, andextract selection candidate text from the text in the first area basedon the position information, wherein the selection candidate textincludes a first text string closest to the position information and asecond text string which is neighboring the first text, and wherein theselection candidate text is displayed in the second area and theselection candidate text in the second area is enlarged relative to thetext in the first area.
 2. The information processing terminal of claim1, wherein the sensor is configured to detect a touch operation.
 3. Theinformation processing terminal of claim 1, wherein the selectioncandidate text included in the second area is placed in an arrangementaccording to an arrangement of the text in the first area.
 4. Theinformation processing terminal of claim 1, wherein the informationprocessing terminal is smartphone, tablet, personal digital assistant(PDA), digital camera, wristwatch or game console.
 5. The informationprocessing terminal of claim 1, wherein the sensor is a touch panel. 6.The information processing terminal of claim 1, wherein the circuitry isconfigured to convert recognized a speech into a text string.
 7. Theinformation processing terminal of claim 1, wherein the text in thefirst area is of a web page in a web browser.
 8. The informationprocessing terminal of claim 1, wherein the second area is placed belowa display position of the first area.
 9. The information processingterminal of claim 1, wherein, when the selection candidate text in thesecond area is not selected, the second area is removed.
 10. Theinformation processing terminal of claim 1, wherein a part of the secondarea differs from another part of the second area.
 11. The informationprocessing terminal of claim 1, wherein the first text string isdisplayed in a center of the second area.
 12. An information processingmethod comprising; detecting position information related to anoperation; controlling a display to display a first area including textand a second area which is located at one edge of the display; andextracting selection candidate text from the text in the first areabased on the position information, wherein the selection candidate textincludes a first text string closest to the position information and asecond text string which is neighboring the first text, and wherein theselection candidate text is displayed in the second area and theselection candidate text in the second area is enlarged relative to thetext in the first area.
 13. The information processing method of claim12, wherein the detecting detects a touch operation.
 14. The informationprocessing method of claim 12, wherein the selection candidate textincluded in the second area is placed in an arrangement according to anarrangement of the text in the first area.
 15. The informationprocessing method of claim 12, wherein the text in the first area is ofa web page in a web browser.
 16. The information processing method ofclaim 12, wherein the second area is placed below a display position ofthe first area.
 17. The information processing method of claim 12,wherein, when the selection candidate text in the second area is notselected, the second area is removed.
 18. The information processingmethod of claim 12, wherein a part of the second area differs fromanother part of the second area.
 19. The information processing methodof claim 12, wherein the first text string is displayed in a center ofthe second area.
 20. A non-transitory computer readable memoryconfigured to store a program, the program comprising; detectingposition information related to an operation; controlling a display todisplay a first area including text and a second area which is locatedat one edge of the display; and extracting selection candidate text fromthe text in the first area based on the position information, whereinthe selection candidate text includes a first text string closest to theposition information and a second text string which is neighboring thefirst text, and wherein the selection candidate text is displayed in thesecond area and the selection candidate text in the second area isenlarged relative to the text in the first area.